The present invention is related to the truing of metal wheels, such as those of a railcar or railroad locomotive and, more particularly, to a system and method that enables the truing of railroad locomotive wheels at virtually any remote location eliminating the need to move the carriages of the locomotive to a pre-existing maintenance station.
Railcar wheel maintenance has typically required the removal of the railcar from service and the placement of the railcar in a maintenance facility where the wheels of the rail may be serviced and ground to a desired profile. A common maintenance situation is one in which the railcar is placed over a pit containing a lathe, and having a removable rail section, for the truing of one wheel of the railcar at a time. Upon the desired profile of the wheel being achieved, the railcar is moved so that another wheel may receive maintenance, i.e., the lathe position within the pit is not adjustable. As can be imagined, this is not only a long process but a costly one as well requiring the actual establishment of a maintenance facility and the removal of the railcar from moneymaking service.
An alternative to that above that has been attempted is field maintenance of railcar wheels through removal of a portion of railroad track. In this manner of maintenance, the railcar is allowed to remain at its remote location while the rail is actually cut enabling a whole section of track to removed, i.e., slid out from beneath the railcar. A lathe for truing each of the railcar wheels can then be slid into position proximate the wheel for grinding. While the present manner of maintenance does enable remote location maintenance, it brings with it a number of additional problems to be addressed. The first and most obvious problem is the cutting of the rail, which requires replacement of the rail, the connecting of the replacement rail to the original rail, and the need to ensure that replaced track section meets the standards set by the American Association of Railroads (AAR) for rails. The sliding out of a track section also presents the problem of the railcar wheel sliding against the rail during removal or replacement of the track. This sliding can result in a wheel that has been undesirably flattened (possibly to an unrepairable state) and/or may make the wheel more susceptible to thermal cracking. The removal and replacement of track sections as well as actual wheel maintenance through grinding clearly presents a time-consuming process.
The railcar wheel maintenance issues described above are in large part addressed and solved by the system and method of on site maintenance of the present invention. Specifically, the present on site maintenance system enables the user to establish a portable, stationary guide rail system about a remotely located railcar and then through use of a traversing guide rail system and lathe assembly, grind the many wheels of a railcar with minimal set-up time, minimal grinding time, minimum take-down time along with the added benefit of eliminating all need to alter the existing track underlying the railcar.
As indicated above, the on site maintenance system of the present invention generally includes a portable, stationary guide rail system, a portable, traversing guide rail system, and a lathe assembly. The portable, stationary guide rail system is preferably supported by a plurality of telescoping jacks. These jacks operate to support a pair of anterior side rails and a pair of interior side rails that form a part of the portable stationary guide rail system, the side rails are off to each side of an existing rail track. Stabilizing forward and rearward cross-members connect the pairs of side rails and rest in part upon the existing rail track.
The portable, traversing guide rail system is supported by casters that roll within channels/tracks presented by the portable, stationary guide rail system. The channels/tracks are found within the side rails of the portable, stationary guide rail system. The portable, traversing guide rail system preferably includes a clamping assembly enabling the assembly to be positioned and clamped to the existing rail track.
The lathe assembly is adjustable along three axes. The adjustments to move assembly to a desired location are preferably made through use of a controller and drives powered by their own power pack. Grinding of the metal railcar wheel is achieved through the bit of the lathe assembly moving through various positions to create a desired profile. The wheel being ground by the lathe is preferably either driven by an on-car motor, e.g., the electric motor of a locomotive, or by connecting an independent drive to the metal, railcar wheel.
A method for on site maintenance of metal railcar wheels of the present invention includes the steps of: (a) erecting the portable, stationary guide rail system about a carriage assembly that is resting atop an existing rail track; (b) supporting the portable, stationary guide rail system substantially exterior to either side of the existing rail track; (c) erecting a portable, traversing guide rail system atop the portable, stationary guide rail system; (d) placing a lathe system atop the portable, traversing guide rail system; (e) moving the portable, traversing guide rail system along the erected portable, stationary guide rail system to a position proximate the carriage assembly; (f) moving the lathe system along the erected, portable traversing guide rail system to a position that is proximate one the metal railcar wheels that is secured to the carriage assembly; and (g) grinding the metal, railcar wheel to a desired profile with the lathe system.